A few days ago, I danced alongside reps from IDEO, Google, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, at MSC Innotech 2008.

Perhaps its not fair to call it a dance, although that would have been neat. Imagination aside, it was more like a series of talks.

Mine was a concise 9 minute session, directed at entrepreneurs who just got their pre-seed grants:

• Made a case against common perceptions of ‘innovation’.
• Examples and experience from managing a fast-growing startup Joel and I have recently put together.
• Definitely not one of my best speeches, considering the ANIMAL IN ME didn’t emerge. But I was still accused of being energetic, and there may be some useful ideas in there, especially for those from a tech background, moving into business.

(My full speech transcript is at the end of this blog post)

You can also download slides of other speakers’ presentations.

Speech aside, I met so many cool people at the event!

For example, you would never expect a Venture Capitalist (VC) to be like Chok Bee Wee, Managing Director of Teak Capital.

Chok, who invested in Jobstreet and helped groom them to be the hundred million dollar company it is today, is not your typical VC. She is straightforward and caring, LIKE A MOTHER. Feels like someone who will look out for you, and won’t hesitate to tell you to your room is a complete mess.

Then there’s Pamir, a VC from investment group Newtonmore Advisors in the UK. He gave us plenty of good advice.

We also bumped into successful young entrepreneurs like Bob Chua of Pulse Group. One of the more bobular dudes who spoke that day, his journey from bedroom entrepreneur to and IPO in AIMS in 33 months, has MOMENTUM written all over him, pushing the future of market research as we know it. At the rate he is going, he will easily be one of Malaysia’s most globally successful entrepreneurs in the next 3 years.

Got a pic with Ashroff, too, a familiar face in these circles! Another dude who makes you feel like family.

We also met two silly looking zombies who look eerily familiar.

And Ganesh Kumar, a real success story. Read “Going for broke” (Published by TeAM, in bookstores now) to hear his full story.

It’s worth the read.

Many early stage startups were also at Innotech. Like Socialwalk, with Tham King Yiew, who was ranting about bad experiences with web developers.

And how can I not forget… The MDeC Crew!

Life has been full of surprises ever since I set out to sail on my own. And along the way, friends have strangers have been very kind to me.

I don’t catch up with Roslan and MDeC team often, but in the background they’ve been opening up many doors to local technologists and entrepreneurs. I have personally benefited a lot from the efforts of the MDeC crew, including the invitation to speak here at Innotech 2008.

Lets have a look at a few of them!

“Good Vibes” Syafinaz.

Jamie “Rock Steady” Haniff

And Roslan, um, “Bakri” Zakaria

Thanks everyone!

Overall it was a great day with great food, great conversations, and we left Innotech having added validation of our business model, and added excitement to follow through with the journey we set out on.

For those of you who are curious about my presentation, here it is:

Read on »

Here are pictures of some of my stupidest costumes.

(Not all of them were Halloween costumes. Many of them were you know, for casual Fridays and visiting relatives and such.)

Absurd costumes. What was I thinking.

All of my costumes are home-made. Even this lactating dog one.

Oh wait, not the Spartan costume… that wasn’t much of a costume, I just took off my shirt, that’s all.

So what am I going to be this year?

Come for the MOB. See if you can recognize me ;)

I’m listening to “Standing outside a broken phone booth with money in my hand” right now. Joel put it on, his girlfriend emailed the mp3 to him.

We’re writing out “proposals”.

To think that a great business partnership, the formation of an youth entrepreneur hub, or a million dollar transaction can begin from innocent words on paper.

Especially the first line, “purpose”.

I used to draw dinosaurs as a child.

I still do.

This time, a blank CD was my canvas victim.

Seated on my balcony, Broken Social Scene in the background, I ended up doodling for an hour.

Here’s a closer look at the damage. (Click on the picture to zoom in)

That’s right folks.

I’m proud to announce, Doodling dinosaurs on CDs is the latest quick-fix stress relief fad!

Burst your medicine balls, undo your eye massage goggles, and delete your collection of naughty videos, because doodling dinosaurs on CDs will save your career and marriage.

It’s so simple even adults can do it!

Game?

You will need

1. A blank CD
2. Music you actually like
3. A permanent marker (I use one with two different fatness)

Benefits of doodle dinosaurs on CDs include:

1. Avoid real work
2. Save on petrol
3. Return to your childhood moments (the ones involving no torture)

Try it, and shout “Grrrrroooooooooooooo! (a dinosaur sound) when you’re done. You’ll be glad you did.

And upload a photo of it online and leave a comment here!

Hey cats. Here’s a quick one.

What happens when you can’t think of smart post titles?

Well, I use twitter.

http://twitter.com/khailee

I tried it way back in ‘06 but I only really started using it now. I keep fantasizing of what silly, rude things I can say there, but really it all ends up family friendly. Boo.

You heard the man.

And if you haven’t, here’s the skinny:

Read on »

I wish I could write more about what actually happened, and share all the great lessons I learnt in marketing, managing people, personal development, and life… but some random photos will have to do for now.

Wires on the floor.

I was in Cameron Highlands with a handful of programmers. We brought our weapons along so we could all enjoy the weather and the scenery while glued to our laptop screens.

My babies

I bought myself a bunch of small cactus plant thingabobs. I have to like, water them once in a while. What a commitment! I’m a father!

Post-its and office love

Testing out a new way to get work done at the office, inspired by agile software development. I love experiments in the workplace!

The morning birds

I woke up at 7am to start work on my balcony. Life is good.

What have you done for me lately?

Joel and I were up at 4am talking about how young people dream much more than they actually deliver, and how successful people and organizations tend to deliver on what they dream… then we saw a “sign”. How are we going to build a culture that delivers? Hmm…

Putrajaya

I’ve been there too many times this month. But for good reasons. My fingers are crossed. By the way that’s Joanne in the picture. She is one of the characters in this new bunch of misfits I’m working with. Will tell you about her, and the other wierdos someday.

Tired

This weekend I’m going to catch up on sleep.

Next week, my new workplace experiment begins…

To be continued..

I watched Fight Club for the second time. It was my birthday gift to myself.

Given the trajectory of my life right now, I thought it was apt to invite The Pixies to lullaby me to the sound of collapsing buildings…

Let me give you the lowdown.

Over the past month, my life has taken a huge-ass detour. I stopped for directions, but disobeyed it. I only got a rough idea as to where I’m headed, but I really don’t care. All I know is I’ve shifted gears, and the wind in my face makes me feel alive.

And I’ve been clinging on to dear life ever since.

In the past 12 days itself I have been on an exotic all expenses paid 5-star getaway with beautiful strangers, experienced death and resurrection by dancing, felt a few mini paradigm shifts brewing, and captured some really good sleep.

As usual, new business ventures are in the works. But this time, I’m doing things differently, to make sure the magic happens.

I guess I should also mention that I am no longer working with the beautiful people at MindValley. We’re still great friends and we’ll be there for one another. Let me blog about this later.

Where am I headed next?

Let’s see… I’ll be on a plane to Singapore till Sunday to mix business with pleasure. When I get back I have a list of people to meet, a RM150,000 grant to apply for, a parking lot of dreams to vacate, and new life to live.

A roadmap would be handy. You know, lend a pattern to the chaos. But I don’t have one. Nor do I feel the need for one right now.

All I have are different pieces, slowly taking shape. When they come together to make a picture, I’ll tell you more.

For now, I trust everything will fall in its right place.

And I’m going to let it.

Sometimes I blog about work lifestyle, the meaning of work, the future of work, designing the ideal workplace, designing your ideal work experience…

But most of the time I keep quiet about it.

However, silently, I daresay I’m working very hard as part of this movement, to promote making your work your bliss.

The Guinea pig for my attempt?

MindValley, of course! The folks at MindValley believe in the dream, and are not afraid to put money and sweat down to achieve it.

About a thousand emails, conversations, and experiments later, MindValley as a workplace utopia is taking shape…

So much so some people are taking note.

We’re officially on the list of the Most Democratic Workplaces in the world. We’ll be appearing in international press in coming weeks. We’re the only company from friggin’ Malaysia, and I’m very proud that I had an active hand in creating this.

What does this award mean?

You can take a peek at Organizational Democracy, the award, and details on the Agile Entrepreneurship blog. It’s in no way a huge deal in the big scheme of things, and we have a long journey ahead. But I admit it’s great to know something you work hard for and care about is valued.

On a related note, a professor for an MBA program at Denver University used Apple, 37Signals, and MindValley as case studies for organizational innovation.

I’d like to think that slowly, but surely, we’re doing something right, and more companies can do it too, and employees around the world will return home everyday smiling and celebrating their awesome day at work :)

Want some ideas on how to help your company give more meaning, happiness and impact to its work?

See what the other winners have done right (including crazy ideas such as “The Love Machine” at work) and sign up for this book I helped write, called Agile Entrepreneurship.

I’m been working on this with Joel since late Feb. See the YouthSays blog for behind the scenes pictures of what that really means.

Ok. So here we go….

What is it?

Well, check it out and you’ll see.

We’ve signed up over 1,000 users before it’s launch, so I’m pretty optimistic about its success.

Time will tell.

Disclaimer: YouthSays has nothing to do with MindValley. It’s Joel’s venture more than anything else.

I’ve been investing / growing a couple of other ventures with MindValley, will talk about them when the time is right.